President Obama violated the Constitution by filling three
National Labor Relations Board seats in the midst of a Senate
recess, according to a
court ruling issued today. "Told you so," says every
conservative on Twitter.

In a unanimous decision, the three judges of the U.S. Court of
Appeals for the D.C. Circuit ruled that President Obama's
three NLRB appointments from January 2012, which didn't
receive Senate approval after months of heated debate,
over-reached his Constitutional powers. At the time, GOP
lawmakers like John Boehner were
calling Obama's move an "entirely unprecedented power grab"
and conservative pundits like Michelle Malkin were
fuming over the "strong-arm move."

Today's ruling hinges on pretty wonky technicalities. The
President is allowed to make appointments during Senate recesses
under certain circumstances, but the judges ruled that in this
case the Senate wasn't really in recess. The AP's Sam Hananel
explains the tactic Republican Senators used to try to
prevent the recess appointments:

... the Senate technically stayed in session when it was
gaveled in and out every few days for so-called "pro forma"
sessions. GOP lawmakers used the tactic — as Democrats have in
the past as well — specifically to prevent the president from
using his recess power.

The ruling has implications for
another, separate open case questioning the constitutionality
of the recess appointment of Richard Cordray (pictured with Obama
above) to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. (Obama
moved yesterday to make that appointment permanent.) Needless
to say, this is seen as a victory for conservatives who think the
NLRB is an activist entity that's too cozy with unions. Already,
the conservative Twittersphere is reaching peak schadenfreude: